I have four cats. I'm updating the instructions I will leave for a caregiver (either volunteer or paid) at occasional times when I'm away from home overnight. A lot has changed since the last time I did this: cats have died, a kitten has joined us, two cats are on new meds, etc. By dent of careful, repeated editing, I have reduced the updated instructions to four printed pages.
Is this reasonable? A neighbor dealt with an earlier version of these instructions a couple of times, and had no issues with them. But I don't have a feel for how much a paid caregiver will be willing to deal with.
Obviously there is no bright line; it depends on the caregiver as well as the instructions. I'm just looking for feedback on whether four very clear and well-organized pages are clearly reasonable, clearly excessive, or "it depends."
I hear you. One of my cats has IBD and my other has nasal cancer and diabetes. So my instructions that I leave are very detailed as well. I do have the benefit of having co-workers come over who I trust in medical judgement, but I still write out very detailed instructions. I still did this with our friends' kids who would come over to take care of the cats even when things weren't quite as complicated.
I have only two cats, so my instructions are about two and a half pages using a size 12 font. So I don't think 4 pages is unreasonable if you have 4 cats. My tips would be using a good-sized font to make everything readable, and break up your instructions into smaller pieces. Separating writing out into smaller pieces is a little less stressful to the reader and will increase the likelihood that everything gets read.
I do think if the petsitter you have is being paid that they should be willing to do the job they're being paid for the best they can. Assuming you believe the person or service is trustworthy. But in short, no, I don't think 4 pages is unreasonable. That's a page per cat, and about what I have to write down for my own when we're away.
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